Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube has said the Zimbabwe dollar will remain as legal tender even as the US dollar now dominates local transactions.
At least 77% of transactions are done in the American currency according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat).
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg TV in London on Friday, Ncube said the extensive use of US dollars doesn’t concern authorities. He said:
Zimbabwe is very clear, the currency for transaction is the Zimbabwe dollar and the US dollar and we are very comfortable with that. For now, the Zimbabwe dollar exists.
Zimbabwe is ineligible to access lines of credit from multilateral financial institutions because it owes more than US$14 billion.
According to ZimPriceCheck.com, a website that tracks both official and unofficial rates, the Zimbabwe dollar trades officially at ZWL$1 000 per dollar and between ZWL$1 400 to ZWL$1 800 on the parallel market.
The Zimbabwe dollar was reintroduced as legal tender in June 2019 after being ditched a decade before when hyperinflation rendered it worthless.
Ncube said the Zimbabwe dollar’s return four years ago made domestic manufacturers more competitive, with locally produced products at 80% in most retail outlets. He said:
It has done a great job. We are very comfortable with both currencies.
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